Two Sided Mirror
Chapter 7- When It Rains It Pours
A/N : I have to give shouts out to Nikki and Randomwriting. This has been a challenge to write and I thank you guys for the help and encouragement!
Warnings: Language
" Shit! They're not supposed to be going anywhere!" Preston yelled as he slammed the headset down on the console. He was positioned in the black van , along with several agents to insure quality sound for recording purposes and for support. The agents jumped and looked between each other as Preston seethed.
" Uh, sir, shouldn't we be giving Detective Speedle some support?" one of the agents asked. " The wire craps out at about three hundred feet."
"Well I think that we need to give him that support, don't you? Let's go," Preston said as he motioned for the driver to move. He took out his cell phone and dialed her number. She should've been here , and he wanted to know why the hell she wasn't.
/When It Rains It Pours/
Prue looked between them as she steadied herself to do this. The repercussions of what she was going to do, could cost her everything, but it was worth it , if Tim was going to be okay. She dropped her head before starting, feeling her heart fluttering. The two CSIs stood there, waiting for her to start, not liking her hesitancy. Speed , although he was going through some issues at the moment, was a valuable part of the team , and to lose him to a bullet would be more than any of them could bear.
" Ms. Kruss?" Horatio asked as he looked at her, seeing the signs , " Would you like to tell us what's going on?"
" I ... um..." Prue said as she struggled to find the words, making Calleigh and Horatio even more apprehensive. The faint ringing of a cell phone startled them , and Prue looked down at her side, to see that it was hers. She smiled sheepishly at them saying, " Excuse me, I have to get this."
Calleigh and Horatio nodded at her and turned to themselves as she walked away a short distance.
" Horatio, she knows something," Calleigh said as she glanced at her. Horatio nodded and turned to see Eric coming to the door.
" H, Alexx is here... Hey who is that?" Delko said as he looked to Prue who was pacing.
" Prudence Kruss, ATF. She says that she has information on Speed," Horatio replied , keeping his attention on her.
"ATF, huh? That will explain some of the stuff that is going on with him," Eric returned as he eyed Prue.
Prue turned slightly to see them watching her. Maybe this was a bad idea, she said to herself as she heard the phone ringing. He picked up on the second ring.
" Where the hell are you, Kruss? Our boy gets taken and you're off galavantin somewhere," Preston yelled into the phone.
"Out... Wait did you say he was taken? Where?" she asked as she faced them, trying to keep her cool.
" We're tracking him to the warehouse district. Get your ass here now," Preston said angrily. He was not in the habit of letting his stings go down the drain. Prue could hear the faint sound of the trucks in the background.
"Okay, warehouse district. I'll be there... and Preston, keep an eye out for him, will ya?"
" That's not my job , hon, that's yours," Preston stated nastily. " Just get your ass here . We are stopping at lot 65."
" Lot 65, okay," Prue said as she took a breath and flipped her phone down. She gathered herself before walking over to them, plastering a smile on her face. Despite her fears, she didn't want to alarm them. Their involvement could now spell trouble for Tim. " I'm sorry, but something important has come up. I have to go."
" But what about Speed?" Calleigh asked .
" I'm sorry, maybe , I shouldn't have come in the first place. I have to go," Prue said as she walked away, feeling the tears surfacing . She wasn't where she was supposed to be, and now Tim was maybe going to pay the price.
The three CSIs watched her as she walked away, in silence. Horatio turned to Calleigh who had a wide smile on her face, likening her to a cheshire cat, the unspoken question floating between them.
" Warehouse district, lot 65," Calleigh said simply as Eric gazed at them , perplexed.
" Great, Calleigh, you stay here and go over the evidence, Eric you come with me," Horatio said
as he slipped on his sunglasses , " We are going to get down to the bottom of this."
" What? What just happened?" Eric asked Calleigh as Horatio walked off towards the hummer.
" I never told you that I read lips , did I?" Calleigh asked with a playful smile as she patted him on the arm.
" This is information I need before I talk on the phone with my girlfriend with you in the room," Eric returned as he jogged to meet Horatio at the Hummer. Calleigh smiled and then pulled the door open, walking in. While they went to get their friend back, she would be working.
/When It Rains It Pours/
Prue drove like a mad man through the streets of Miami, her thoughts only on one thing, getting to Tim. Her mind wandered to the times they had shared, the wonderful smile that he always had for her, and the love that they shared . She felt a tear drop as she reached over to her glove compartment and opened it, taking out two glocks. She knew that they were ready without having to look at them, because as she told Tim in the club, she took her job seriously.
In minutes , she was at the warehouse district, and she parked a couple of lots down as so not to throw attention to herself. She glanced at the guns in her hand and chambered the rounds in both, putting one behind her in her low rise jeans, and the other where she could reach in seconds. She took her cell phone off of her clip and tossed it into her car, then trotted off in the direction of lot 65.
When she got there, she saw the white van parked alongside the south side of the building, and noticed that there were two armed guards. The drop, she realized would be made here. Silently , she cursed Preston for his lack of Intel , then she walked stealthily to the other side of the warehouse. Coming around, she saw the familiar black van as it sat on the opposite side, looking very conspicuous. She shook her head as she continued to follow the building, looking for an alternate way in. This was her job, to make sure that he was going to be okay. She found a small door, and slipped in, readying herself to face anything.
/When It Rains It Pours/
Speed glanced between the two Hispanic gunmen as they spoke in Spanish to each other , laughing. He listened intently to their conversation, trying to hear hints to what was going on, but finding out that they were just talking about him. He closed his eyes as he waited, his heart beating a marathon runner's beat , thinking about how screwed he could be if this didn't go right. Not only would he be killed, but he would inadvertently be putting his friends in danger. This smuggling ring would not stop until all adversaries were taking care of, and that included the CSIs of Miami Dade county. The weight of the situation began to take hold and he nervously shifted his weight.
" Hey, when is this going to go down? I have things to do," he asked , cutting through the silence.
One gunman walked up to him and smiled maniacally, " Patience, friend. He's on his way. And for your sake, I hope that you have made it worth his while."
"Worth his while? I have what I was told to get. Killed an officer to get it. He better make it worth my while,"Speed returned as he glared at the man. He was lying, he knew, but he had to play the part. In doing so, he felt as if he was standing on the other side of the mirror of his life. It was him, but yet ,it wasn't. He turned at the sound of the doors opening and saw two men walk in with semiautomatic submachine guns, and behind them a small Hispanic in all white. The two men that were with Speed, turned to him as he approached and pushed Speed down to his knees.
" So, what do we have here?" the small Hispanic asked as he looked over Speed. Speed glared at him harshly as he reached for the silver suitcase.
" Just what you ordered. Had a hard time getting that, just in case you were wondering," Speed quipped easily. It was masking the fear that had crept into him, knowing that he was facing the man who was responsible for his daughter's murder. He didn't know if he could keep his cool .
The man opened the case and smiled slightly as he turned the case over, " You ,my friend, have made a very big mistake."
" What?" Speed asked as the men grabbed him by the arms. His eyes went to the empty case that sat before him.
/When It Rains It Pours/
Prue walked silently through the rows of boxes as she trained her ears to listen. She could hear the faint sounds of Spanish as she walked and then she stopped, putting her hands behind her, making sure that her gun was still back there. She started to walk again, navigating her way through the forest of cardboard. Coming to a clearing, she saw Tim as he stood, the two men with guns not far behind. Prue could see the stress of the situation on his face, and she fought to remain composed. Then in an instant she heard the doors open and she focused her attention to it, seeing the two guards walking in with someone behind them. She felt her breath rush out of her as she recognized the small Hispanic man behind them, and she filled her hand with her gun. Her heart began to race as she saw them kneel him down to the ground as he opened the case. It seemed as time had stopped when she saw the familiar look on his face as he turned the case to Tim, a calm yet demented look in his eyes. She knew what she had to do and she stood up straight , aiming her gun.
/When It Rains It Pours/
Preston sat outside of the warehouse , looking in the direction of the white van noticing her as she walked to the other side. Finally, she had made it, he thought as he sat back. Now all he had to do was sit and watch the fireworks.
/When It Rains It Pours/
Horatio pulled the Hummer behind the car, two lots from 65 and got out, with his gun already in his hand. If anything , this job had taught him to be prepared for anything. He motioned for Eric to take his blind side as they made their way to lot 65 quickly. In no time they were in the front of the warehouse, finding the door open. They slipped in quietly, hoping to find their friend and colleague well.
/When It Rains It Pours/
Preston took another look out the window, seeing two figures as they inched closer to the door, and pulled his sunglasses off, almost throwing them at the agents.
" Son of a bitch! When it rains, it pours! What the hell are they doing here?" he yelled. They were going to ruin everything. He glared at the red head as he entered the building, feeling his homicidal tendencies rising. He couldn't let this go down the drain. Getting out ,he instructed, "No one talks, understood?"
They all nodded ,knowing what that meant. If this went sour, they were to get out. Fast.
/When It Rains It Pours/
Prue heard the gun click before she saw it, turning to face him quickly, letting shots off. She watched as the man took three in the chest as he fell forward, his finger lying on the trigger of the machine gun. The warehouse went into action as the sounds of gun shots filled the air. Prue felt the bullets as they whizzed by her, taking cover behind the towers of boxes.
Speed took the moment of chaos to get up and reach into his sock to find his own piece, taking cover behind boxes himself. He was angry and confused, but he kept his focus , wondering who it was that had opened fire. He trained his gun on several men, shooting in rapid succession, taking many of them out. As he moved he could see the person step from behind the boxes and take a shot, his heart dropping into his stomach. It was Prue. Then his attention was thrown to the gunshots coming from the front of the warehouse, and he moved quickly to see Horatio and Eric as they had joined the fight.
"Dammit!" he said as he continued to keep his gun trained. The sounds of the bullets reverberated off of the walls, making communication hard, and he listened intently to the guns. He knew that the guards had machine guns and Horatio, Eric and himself had nine mm glocks. As the machine guns returned fire, he stepped closer to Prue, wanting to shout to her. He lost track of Horatio and Eric , although he could still hear Horatio fire. He didn't hear the person walk up to him until he spoke.
" Speed, put the gun down," Eric said as he trained his gun on his friend.
" I can't do that," Speed returned as he turned around to face him. He glanced to his side to see that Prue was gone.
"I'm not going to ask you again, Speed. Put the gun down," Eric said as he steadied his gaze. It hurt him to hold the gun to his friend's face, but he had to. This wasn't the same Speed he knew.
" I'm sorry , Delko." Speed said as he advanced on him.
Eric kept his gun pointed at him, his eyes welling. He couldn't do it, but he had to," Speed, ..."
Speed tackled him and wrestled with him, overpowering him easily. When he got up, he pointed the gun in his face, as Delko remained on the ground, with his hands up.
" Why couldn't you just stay away?" Speed asked in anguish. Pointing the gun at him was heartbreaking.
"Speed, why are you doing this?" Eric asked as he noticed the gun trembling in his hand.
" You wouldn't understand, Eric. I'm sorry," Speed said as he felt one tear drop. He steadied the gun and shot him.
He moved quickly, wiping his tears. Moments later, he spotted Prue advancing on a guard with her gun steady. She didn't see the guard behind her and he yelled to her. He knew that she wouldn't be able to hear over the caphony of the gunfire, but he had to warn her. Seconds passed as he kept his eyes on her, seeing her squeeze the trigger, then fall to the ground. He screamed out as he ran to her, dodging bullets, but not really caring. She had been hit. His anger rushed to his head, and he didn't see the gun until it connected with his face, sending him to the ground.
He couldn't focus on the man towering above him, but he could hear his voice faintly. He could've sworn that he heard Horatio's voice. The man moved and Speed got up gingerly, dangerously close to losing consciousness, again trying to get to her. He was able to get closer, seeing one pick her up effortlessly, noticing the blood on her shirt. It was growing rapidly. Walking, he reached out to her, but he felt as if he was in quick sand, feeling himself being dragged down. The gunfire had ceased, yet his ears still rang , and as he came to the front of the warehouse. He saw them toss her into the white van, then drive off.
As he fell to his knees, his eyes erupted with tears, his new found grief finding a way out, "Prue..." He lost himself to his heart breaking and conscious as he thought about her. It was far from over for him. Or her.
TBC...
A/n: I know bad form... But interesting, no? lol. Let me know how you feel...